Making an independent movie is no easy task. Ask local director Jim Horwitz, whose first feature-length film will be shown at 4 p.m. this Monday, Nov. 17, in the Anderson Auditorium at Edgewood College.
Though he could tell you stories about his own experience, his movie, “Grodmin,” more than adequately describes the difficulties of filmmaking.
“Grodmin” takes the “film within a film” concept to its ultimate degree. Its complex layering of fiction and reality effectively illustrates the ambiguity of our “reality TV” culture.
The levels on which “Grodmin” operates both reflect and contrast each other. The “inner” film takes place within a graduate art program at an unnamed Northeastern university. Older students in the program act as mentors — “Grodmins” — to younger students.
Documentary segments intersperse “behind-the-scenes” elements with interviews with cast and crewmembers and “real” artists, all offering their opinions on the film and on the nature of art. These scenes comprise the real meat of the film, and they illustrate the parallel relationship that grows between the two lead characters (played by John Wiederholt and Lucas Branum) during the problematic filming.
The contrasts in visual style and believability between the “real” movie and the documentary sell the film’s lofty premise. It becomes apparent that the “inner” film would not have been anyone’s idea of a masterpiece, and yet the characters and the actors portraying them are compelling. Only by the film’s end will an uninformed audience member begin to understand that the documentary, too, has been staged.
“Grodmin” admirably invites repeated viewing. Its convoluted layers require a deliberate pace, and at first gander the end may seem to drag. In retrospect, however, one realizes that the film’s many levels necessitate a prolonged denouement.
A well-conceived soundtrack featuring primarily semi-obscure bands (anchored by Clem Snide, whose frontman, Eef Barzelay, appears in the film) helps ease the process of grasping the film’s layers and nuances. There is a hint of post-MTV visual awareness that paces the film without flogging the audience with flashiness
By juxtaposing the rather shallow archetypes of the inner film with the more convincing actors within the documentary, and by the questions posed as the farce is revealed, “Grodmin” forces an audience to think. It is impressive for a director’s first film to be so successfully nontraditional in its structure.
“Grodmin” is currently in consideration for the Sundance Film Festival. If the selection committee is circumspect, it should surely make the cut. But whether it is selected or not, this Monday’s screening — followed by a question-and-answer period with director Jim Horwitz and cast members — offers an opportunity to look into the complicated world of filmmaking.
“Grodmin” plays this Monday, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m. in the Anderson Auditorium at Edgewood College, 1000 Edgewood College Dr.